When Wind Meets Fire
by ClatoStorybrook
Summary: Clove's P.O.V. of the Hunger games and how herself, Cato, Peeta, and Katniss managed to get out of the games alive. The wind keeps the fire going. Clove Wind Katniss Fire
1. Chapter 1

_Drip. Drip._

Stupid water.

_Click. Clack. Click. Clack. _

Stupid train.

"Ehem" Someone clears there throat from behind me but I don't jump.

_Stupid Escort. _

I turn around slowly. At first I slightly squint, change from a rainy district one to a golden lantern can be quiet the contrast. I don't say a word to her, she is quiet overdone in the platinum gold heels and sequined ball gown. "As you may see, Clove dear, we are now in district one. It won't be long until we reach the capitol! So chin up and find your quarters for the night." I lift an eyebrow at her. She's really testing me right now? I guess that capitol accent hasn't knocked the stupid out of her like I'd hoped. She scurries away from me and back to the kitchen compartment of the train.

Rolling my eyes, I stand up only to bump into the one and only (real) blonde on this damned train.

"Watch it" I growl moving on from Cato quickly.

"I believe you're the one who bumped into me" He retorts quickly.

"I believe" She copies his smart-ass tone " I don't care" She can hear his footsteps behind her and she inwardly groans at this.

"Hey, hey. Only trying to have a little fun" He says innocently putting his hands up, walking beside me. I quicken my pace, he follows suit. I slow my pace, and he does it at that same.

"Annoying bastard" I grumble under my breathe.

"Pardon?"

"Nothing." I say in a sarcastically sweet tone that matches the equally sarcastic smile I've plastered on my face. It doesn't last long though because he pins me to the wall. "Classic" I smirk up at him. Damn him for being tall. He smirks back at me.

"What's up with the 'tude?" He attempts a casual tone, though I feel his hands pushing back on my shoulders making it like the walls are pulling me in.

"Let go." I growl. Cato has always been a smart-ass. Even from the day I meant him when I was 5 and he was 8, now I am 15 him 18. That's ten long fucking years of knowing that bastard.

"Why should I?" He leans in close enough for me to feel his breath on my ear.

"I'm not really sorry I have to do this" I say. He pulls his head back for a second letting me see his confused expression before I smirk and pulling my knee up to knee him in the groin. Unluckily he see's my move and holds up my leg against his torso, that damn smirk never leaving his face.

"Thought you could get away that easy, huh Clovey?" He asks with that stupid pet name of his for me. I swear, he does that just to piss me off.

"No" The answer is short, simple, but straight to the point. I wraps my legs around his torso, which catches him off-guard a moment, but a moment is all I need. Both my legs wrap round the bend of his knees and I pull them towards the wall, he catches my move but it's too late because he's already on the ground. After years, and years of learning I know just the right way to pin him down that he can't get free. The bend of my knees are on his knees and my hands forcing his arms down by his forearms pushing all my weight and muscle down.

"Bitch"

"Bastard"

"Coming up with B words are we well I have one for you both b-" Enobaria, one of our mentors is interrupted by Brutus who carefully slaps her own hand over her mouth. She shoves his hand off her own so she can speak again. "I was only going to say bampots." Enobaria smirks showing her gold razors for teeth.

"What's that mean?" Asked Cato.

"Idiot" I say rolling my eyes then look back down at the blonde on the floor.

"Precisely!" Rewards Enobaria.

"Hey!" Cato says defensively, resulting in both females in the room to face palm and shake their heads. Enobaria lifts her head and examines us, us being Cato and I.

"I want her." She states simply.

"I thought we made a agreeme-" Brutes starts calmly.

"Screw agreements, she's my tribute." Enobaria says, making a point of showing her fangs to the overly muscled man behind her. Seeming to know he can't win this fight, he lets it go. The female victor yanks me up from my spot where I am pretty much just kneeling on Cato and drags me to the main train compartment.

"Yeah. Well, um, OW!" I growl as a pull my pony tail out of her reach.

"Don't whine about your precious hair." Enobaria spits.

"It's my brain I was worrying about, don't want to ruin the only intelligent tribute this year." She smirks at my statement.

"You have a mouth on you?"

"I feel this is more of a rhetorical question." Her smirk widens so now the tips of her teeth can show and you can practically feel the pride coming off of her right now.

"We've got a winner!" She yells falling back into the red sofa. Between us is a brown coffee table and I have seated myself on a comfortable red chair. The coffee table has intricate designs patterned into it and the middle is glass, only wood for the outline to hold it all together. I can hear Brutus yelling a remark about how, yeah they do but he's currently with him and I roll my eyes.

"You know your friends in denial? Correct?" I ask.

"Not my friend, ally maybe." She says quickly. "And yes, he always thinks he can win this game though I have more wins than him."

"What game?" The words leave my mouth before I have actually processed them.

"Who can train, or I guess, mentor the victor of the games." She states simply, as if I should already know this, to top it making is casual she is picking at her nails apparently bored already. Game? Is everything just a game? Killing shouldn't be just a game, sure I've killed my fair share of people but I need to save myself. I have no choice. Of course I do not express my feelings, through words or emotions. I smirk at her.

"Trust me I won't let you down."

**_AN: I don't know if I like this yet, I just thought I would post it for now. Let me know what you think. I have a lot of possible plans and ways to take this but this is a fair warning, this IS an ALTERNATE ENDING. DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Hunger Games, but you probably already knew that. ;)  
_**


	2. Over breakfast

For awhile I just talked to Enobaria, everything from when I first started training to strategies for the games. She shooed me off to bed around 11 O'clock though.

"Get up, short stack." I heard a, sadly, familiar voice from the other side of my covers.

"Get out." I replied pulling the covers more forcefully over then under me so if he tried to pull them off it would be harder. Hearing heavy steps, not quite sure if they moving towards me or not, I relaxed my grip on the comforter. That instant they pulled from me, flipping me on my back as it unraveled from under me.

"No." He answered smirking. That dumbass was smirking! Thank god I wore sweats (covering black spandex) and a tank to bed instead of just underwear like some of the other girls at the academy. The only reason I know that is because they would talk about it as if it were a good thing.

"Cato! I am going to rip you to shreds and feed you to you-" I'm cut off by the brick wall that jumps on me, pinning me by simply smothering my wrists into the bed. At first I thrash around but then I notice something, his legs are on either sides of my hips, stupid boy.

"Decided to give up, huh Clover?" He smirks down at me, slowly getting closer. It's not that I'm not okay with this, but it's definitely not comfortable. "Remember when we were like this once? Long ago I can almost remember…" He trails off and I can feel myself getting sick at the memory. He smirks down at my disgusted face and grinds his hips on mine suggestively.

That's when decide I'm done with him for now.

"Remember this?" I ask in a sickly sweet tone. I buck my hips into him, taking him by surprise I can see the pleasure but confusion on his face. Not a moment later did I knee him, I got his lower thigh by his knee but that's not exactly where I was aiming… It does throw him off balance though and he goes tumbling off the right side of the bed with a shove from me.

I smirk and sit on my bed, leaning back on my palms. He pouts up at me.

"Now get out, I need to change."

"Aww, can't I stay!" He says acting a like a new trainee at the academy.

"No, now get out." He soon gets up from the floor. I swing my legs over the side of the bed as he walks towards the door. I look over my shoulder at him. "And stop acting like a fucking five year old!"

As I put my hair, what is left from where I haven't braided it, into a pony tail at the back of my head I walk to the kitchen compartment of the train. I took a quick shower and put on the cloths a avox must have left out for me.

It was obvoisly a training outfit, fitted black pants and shirt red lines going down both and on the shoulder there was a patch that said two. To complete the training outfit were black combat looking boots that were made of thick leather.

"Ooh goodness I thought you weren't coming!" Our escort, Orchid, squeaks. She ushers me towards where there is only one seat left and it is by none other than Cato, I groan inwardly refusing to let him know my unhappy reaction to being seat by him.

Enobaria is seated across from me and Brutus is to her right. Orchid sits at the end of the right side of the table, luckily that is the male tribute and victors side so I won't have to deal with her constant badgering.

"Sleep at all?" Enobaria asks nonchalantly though I know she doesn't really care, not yet. Not until it's the night before the games will she actually care if I sleep at all. I am not stupid though so I don't roll my eyes and ignore her as if she were someone else, hell, if she were someone else I would have probably threw my butter knife at her already.

"Fine" I reply shortly, clearly not wanting to make conversation.

"Sorry we had to make Cato wake you, I was busy and Orchid wa-"

"I don't care. You don't need to make excuses" I reply. Enobaria smirks at me from across the table. She doesn't say another word, getting that I'm not really in a mood to talk.

Truth was, I barely slept at all. Not because I am scared of the games, no no that would be some stupid district 12 stunt but because I had nightmares all night. Just replays and replays of _her _dying. Over and over again. When she actually did die it was in front of all the district, they forced everyone to watch as they tortured her and, finally when it was all too much, they killed her.

I remember that day clear as air.

_I look around as everyone has been ordered into the main square by the peacekeepers. They even let us get out of training, which was a bit upsetting because that was my favorite part. _

_There are screams coming from the middle of the large group that makes up most of the population of district two and I go in. Because of my petite size I can easily slip through the crowd with barely any force if any. I look up to see what's going on, almost excited to see if they have any news on the games. _

_It was between Falcon, from four, and Rika here from two. Her real name was Paprika but we all called her Rika for short. _

_I am stunned at the sight before me and stop dead in my tracks. I am on the very inner edge of the huge square now, and no one dares to move me. _

_"M-mom!" I choke. I hate how my voice sounds so weak, so breakable. _

_There in the middle where the peacekeepers are guarding is a white rectangle looking thing. It really isn't white, it is clear made of plastic and big enough for about 3 average district two adults to stand and move around comfortably, but only one is trapped inside. _

_Instantly I know something is wrong. Why would they trap her in this.. this thing!? I try to run up to it but a peacekeeper holds my twelve year old frame easily back. This also frustrates me. Murderous screams come again and I learn their coming from her. _

_At first I don't see them, those little capitol mutations but my eagle eyes catch them soon enough. They look like big bees, not bumble bees those are fat, but actual bees just bigger in size. My gut flips as I remember my mom telling me about them, tracker jackers. _

_They are capitol mutations, bees designed to kill. Just one sting could cause terrible hullisnations but if you reach past the point of about 4 or 5 you are a gonner, dead if you don't get __**immediate **__medical attention. First there are only a few, one or two then they would disappear. _

_I watched hours on end as my mother was tortured in front of the whole district by the little black and yellow mutts. Right when I thought it's okay, she'll be fine, they'd put two more in and cause her more hallucinations. Not once giving her anything to treat it. _

_I could feel the sour thought of the others. How they all wished, almost pleaded they could help. To stop this. Even the peacekeepers eventually had to look down shamefully to the ground. _

_"MOM!" My voice sounded hoarse from the sob that had been stuck in my throat the past hour. I managed to break through the peacekeepers to the place where my mother was being held captive. She was a pedestal then there was the rectangle trap. I saw her figure slowly glide down the glass. "Mom! Please! Don't! I need you, mom!" She looked at me, ugly scars all over her. _

_She looked defeated, in her eyes you could already tell she was long dead before she actually exhaled her last breath. I'd never seen my mother like this before. She was a victor, someone to look up to. Someone who never was defeated, someone who could never be beat. She only showed her emotions to me and my younger brother, Vine named after Akebia Quinata mostly known by Chocolate Vine. _

_Now she was broken, forever unfixable all because of the stupid tracker jackers. No, not the tracker jackers. The Capitol. _

"Clove? CLOVE!" Enobaria snapped her fingers in my face and bared her fangs at me. "You have to pay attention." She scolded. I could feel that my usual emotionless face wasn't on right now, but it soon came back to me. "As I was saying, you two have training today. You have to intimidate them, show them your worthy of being noticed." Cato coughed. "Show them your both worthy of being noticed." Enobaria corrected herself rolling her eyes at the blond tribute.

Enobaria kept talking all through breakfast, everything about training and what to look at. She told us not to overlook the simple things like traps and plants because you never know what will happen in the arena and we are going to be in the capitol in less then 30 minutes but I pretty much blanked out most of it, occasionally picking at the food on my plate.

**_There you have it! The second chapter. This chapter was a get-to-know-Clove chapter. Hope you learned a little more about her, and her past. Please review! Simple as love it! Or like it! To a whole paragraph on how I need to blah blah blah. Tell me. I love input. _**


	3. The Capitol

**_You guys suck. -_- _**

The Capitol.

It was huge. And nice. And just outright magnificent.

I watched as lake sparkled, reflecting the giant buildings of the capitol and the brightly dressed people.

I cocked my head to the right a bit at them. They were so strange. It seemed the fashion was either; big hair, big dress, big… everything or slick. Slick, like greased back hair, skin tight dresses, and things like that. Either way, there were many colors. I flashed my eyes towards Cato, who was also by the windowsill, but just as quickly as I looked at him I looked back.

He was looking at me… and it was starting to get creepy. I looked to my left awkwardly, he didn't seem too noticed. Idiot, with a roll of my eyes I looked back over to him and right into his eyes. He just looked back, my glare remaining. I waited for him to say anything, really anything even one of his stupid jokes or teasing which he thinks is funny even though it's really not.

Nothing.

"What!?" I finally snapped. He smirked. That bastard smirked!

"Nothing" He replied casually leaning back on the windowsill frame, looking out the window.

"Fuck you" The words slipped from my mouth without a thought, but when I did think, the smirk returned to my face. "Oh, wait. You'd like that wouldn't you?" He opened his mouth to reply but I walked away, and Orchid walked in practically screaming.

"We're here! Faces, faces! Remember, your district two tributes. Careers." I could see the pride through her un-capitol-like smirk. Hmmm… Maybe I could grow to like her. No, actually that's impossible, I don't even like anybody from home, let alone the capitol.

I throw a smirk over my shoulder in Cato's direction and am satisfied by the glare he gives back to me. We're stopped momentarily by the thick silver door that leads to the capitol.

"Be amazing! We're still really early, we went around the capitol twice last night because of there.. um.. mishap." Orchid said. I raised an eyebrow at her but she pretends not to notice. The door glides open and I take in the scene before me.

People, everywhere. As far as the eye can see, there are colorful manikins that we call, back at home, capitolites. Orchid gives Cato and me a gentle shove. I bat her hand away and step outside first, the people roar louder than before.

The smirk that comes to my face is automatic, years of training kicking in. I look each and every one of the feathered, fluffed, blue, green, short, and tall people in the eye. Smirking and I can hear a chant of my name, of course Cato's is in there to. Bleh.

"Clo- ato- Clo- ato" Mixtures of our names merging together. "Ca- ove- Ca- ove"

It sounds like Cove. My eyes widen a little at the memory that pops into mind, but I quickly repair my mask and it's like it never happened on the outside, but on the inside the memory is already playing in her mind.

_I look around even though I know no one's watching. I can hear the faint zap of the electric charge hitting the steel poles and I start to climb the wire fence. Zap. Faster, damn it faster! Zap. I jump the top of the fence, my hand hanging onto the top of the fence. I let go but still feel the zap from the electricity on my hand. _

_I'm falling from six foot wire fence and my left hand is temporarily numb. Fuck. _

_"Oof!" I crash into someone's arms. Familiar blue eyes and blonde hair meet my vision. Cato. He looks down at me with a smirk. "You should really watch yourself girly, I won't always be here to catch you."_

_"Put me down, fucktard." I reply. _

_"Ooohh. Ms. Jackson's feisty today?" He smirks. I consider grabbing that big ass head of his and just banging it into a nearby tree but I just decide to squirm out of his grasp. _

_"Let's go, we're going to miss it." I say anxiously. I'm 14 years old and Cato is 17. _

_"I think it's cute how you're always so excited to see this." Cato says from behind me. I have already left him for the safety of the trees. I growl at his words and don't bother to turn around. _

_"I'm not cute, I'm feisty." _

_We hop logs, and dodge ditches at a run to the hollow. That is where we always go. _

_The hollow is deep in the forest. It is a huge fallen tree that we stumbled by when we were younger. Moss surrounds most of the tree. A top the fallen tree grows a willow that I climb sometimes to escape a rampage of anger from Cato. There is a hidden entrance that Cato kicked open years ago. I had peeled back some of the moss to find the huge tree is hollow so Cato decided to kick open a entrance big enough for us both to fit in, it was by the roots. _

_One of the strangest things was the weeping willow that grew a top the fallen tree, very strange. _

_My eyes lit up as I saw the huge roots of the hideaway. My speed increases by a mile at least. _

_"Slow down champ." Cato calls from behind me, having a bit more trouble locating where to step. _

_"I'm not a child, don't treat me like one." I stop at the roots and look onward where the little creek is, than I make my way in the hollow. I wait for Cato to come in. _

_"Finally, god, you take forever." I say leaning back against the wood of the tree, my head resting on it as well so I'm looking at the ceiling. He says nothing, and I wait for him to reply for a minute but he doesn't. Slowly I looked back at him. There was something different about his stare tonight, I didn't know whether it was just the shadows hitting him weird or if it was just him but it made something in my stomach turn hot, almost nervous. _

_"I want you." He states simply, hungrily. I don't get it at first, but then it hits me. _

_"Pardon?" I ask, struggling to keep my tone cool. _

_"I. Want. You." He says again, with every word he comes closer. _

_"What the… fuck?" I ask looking away from his lustful gaze and to the bark in front of me. I can feel my heart rate speed up, and I hate it. I shouldn't be nervous, shouldn't be excited…but.. something still lingers there. _

_I can feel his breath on my neck now. He's so close, to close. It sends a chill down my spine. _

_"Nervous?" He asks with his husky voice. No, I want to reply but the words don't quiet reach my mouth. It just hangs there in the open. "Don't worry, I'll lead you through it." Then he starts kissing my jaw line, down my neck and to my collar bone. That is when I regain my senses. _

_"Cato I'm fourteen." I say. This stops him momentarily and he looks up at me. _

_"Yeah, and?" He says raising an eyebrow. I look down at him quizzically. _

_"You're seventeen." I state. He backs up a bit, to get a better look at my face. _

_"What's three years to ya'?" I have never really considered this, only three years. Many married couples were five to ten years apart but it still seemed like quiet a gap. _

_"Why me? I'm sure there are better girls in your age group" I say this as I look away where he can't see my face. I have a ton of emotions but the three biggest ones are; confusion, lust, and hatred. He grabs my chin and yanks my head over to look at him but I don't flinch a bit, used to his aggressive behavior as he is to mine _

_"Your fucking gorgeous not matter what the other girls look like." He growls lowly. This only makes my anger burn brighter though. I yank my head out of his reach. _

_"I'm not your ragdoll or fuck toy of the week, we're training partners. Remember?" I growl just as darkly. _

_"Oh, I remember. And every knife you throw makes me want you more, every guy you smack down in hand to hand combat makes me hot for you." He leans in towards me again this time, instead of going for my neck, he goes for my lips. _

_His lips touch mine, and he starts kissing me, almost frantically or desperately, but I don't respond. I can't wrap my head around it. Cato wants to fuck me. The worst part of it is, I want to do the exact same thing to him. I can tell he is trying to get a rise out of me, kissing me aggressively occasionally nipping at my bottom lip, trying to stick his tongue through my lips. _

_Only when he slams me back into the bark of the hollow do I respond. I kiss him back aggressively. At first he seems taken by surprise but then I can feel the smirk come to his lips. I don't even give him a chance to try to force entrance in my mouth because I force him to open his first. _

_My hands reach for his shoulders, which were currently resting by my sides, and I start to push him back onto the ground so now I am straddling him. He pulls back from the kiss, trying to get some air. I smirk as I start to kiss down his jaw line and around his neck, searching for his sweet spot. I move myself so I am on top of his lap, and am pleased when I hear him moan in pleasure. _

_"C-clove" He tries to sound forceful but his façade falters as I hit his sweet spot and grind my hips into his in unison. I realize a little too late that he is in position to flip us. And, of course, he does. I land with a small thud. _

_"Didn't think you'd be in control that long, huh?" He smirked down at my small frame under his large one. He dives right into it, nipping and sucking on my neck. I know what he's doing; he's trying to mark me as his. Well, I just can't have that can I?_

_The rest is history._

This all passes in her mind for a second and she smirks her way through the crowd, her smirk never faltering as they scream their names. The screams only become louder when we enter the well kept building, away from the freaks of the capitol.

Orchid leads us towards the elevator. Once, we all have filed in I abandon my smirk for a permanent glare. My mood has gone from excited to angry at the memory of the hollow.

"Why the face, squirt?" He asks using another pet name he has so graciously given me.

"Call me that again and I'll castrate you." I spit back at him, through the corner of my eye I can see Enobaria smirking and Brutus rolling his eyes. He puts his hands up in fake innocence. Luckily it takes under a minute to get to our room. I look around, my eyes filled with curiosity at the sight of the room.

"Isn't it marvelous?" Orchid squeals, pushing past us, us being; Cato, Brutus, Enobaria and I. Almost immediately we all snarl at her, angered that she thinks she could push us around. She gives a quizzical look to us then brushes it off.

I start to look around once more. In the middle of the room are three couches, all surrounding the little coffee table. The room's colors are burgundy, off-white, and brown. It looks surprisingly nice. In front of the largest couch is the coffee table and a few feet in front of that is a large flat T.V. that looks incredibly nice. Behind the couches the wood flooring charges up, flat, up, flat making a step that leads to the dining table. Above the dining table is a crystal chandelier and to the right is a door, most likely leading towards a kitchen.

"Come, come. Time to see your rooms!" Orchid chirps. I reluctantly follow her as does Cato. Enobaria and Brutus have seemed to disappear for the moment, I would to but sadly I don't have a clue where my bedroom is. We go up the short step into the dining room and turn left into a hallway I hadn't seen before. My eyes immediately found the D2 painted on the door and in fading green it said; Clove.

I cocked my head to the right a bit and stopped walking, just staring at it. How did they know I was coming? I was reaped, not chosen to volunteer like many in district two were. I was supposed to volunteer next year, for the quarter quell.

Orchid noticed my hesitation and turned to look at me. "Is something wrong deary?" She asked, concern leaking in her tone. I shook my head, not willing to talk to her. I started to walk again and Cato raised a eyebrow at me but I ignored him. "Here is your room, Clove, Cato your room in further down. Follow me!" She said without even stopping just waving her hand in the direction of my door.

Now that I was closer I could see that not only was my name painted in fading colors it was painted by clovers. Clovers made up my name, every single letter. Only for period was a four leaf clover. Something wasn't right, all my instincts told me this was a set up, that Orchid new more then she was supposed to and I was also about to too. The rest of the door was an off-white color and the door frame was burgundy.

I opened the door warily and looked around.

I'd never seen anything like it before. The bed didn't touch the ground, it hand from the ceiling like a hammock yet it looked like a bed. The pillows were a mixture of splattered burgundy and blue or fading burgundy into a fading blue. The comforter of the bed was a fading blue and fading burgundy rimmed it. The floor was no longer wood; it had been replaced by burgundy carpet. I stepped onto it and jumped back when I saw the fading blue begin. I looked closer to realize it was my foot print, and it faded when I jumped back. The walls painted fading blue that fades into burgundy like some of the pillows. The rim of the room was off white colored. There is one off-white door and I'm pretty sure it is for my very own bathroom.

It's all wrong. The rooms weren't supposed to be like this, no. They were supposed to be nice but to be like this… no. They set me up. The _made _me come here. Not because I was drawn but because they _wanted _me. But why? What could I possibly do to help them? Then it hits me. The Capitol, or more likely President Snow, is concerned of a rebellion.

And they know if they don't have a grip on me, I'm more than likely to join it.

**_How did you guys like this chapter? I really want to know because I don't want to continue if no one is reading. Here is a deal, my first reviewer gets the next chapter dedicated to them and only them. I will be forever happy! _**


	4. Things seem wrong VERY wrong

**_I know, I know, TWO chapters in ONE day. Hold the applause, please. :D Sorry there a bit OCC in parts of this chapter, I'm trying. _**

I sit on my bed, pondering my idea. How could they know? This is all anonymous so how could anyone rig this? They can't that's the answer, they can't.

"They can't. I'm fine." I sigh under my breath. But I can tell on the outside I still am searching for an answer staring at the comforter, searching for the real answer. Thank god no one is here, they'd think I was crazy or worse, weak. I shake my head and straighten my posture. I have no time to worry about this.

I look around the room, Orchid told me we had thirty minutes to do whatever I please. I already took a shower, my hair is already drying. I wear a blue fitted shirt and darker burgundy sweat pants, damn capitol people want me to match my bedroom.

"Darling?" Orchid sings from behind my door. She knocks twice. "Clove, dear, dinner is ready." She says in her capitol accent. I jump up from my bed at the word of dinner and open my door. Orchid looks slightly startled, her blue eyes almost jumping out of their sockets and she gets a few shades paler, but she redeems herself quickly. "Oh no!" She squels looking me up and down.

"What?!" I snap at her; hunger, angry, and slightly confused.

"You can't _possibly _wear that to dinner!" She says this while softly pushing me back into my bedroom and closing the door behind her. She goes over to the front of my bed and kneels down by the dresser.

"Your one push away from me making you a avox." I mumble under my breath. She opens a drawer in front of my hammock bed.

"Hmm?" She asks while looking through the off-white drawer.

"Nothing" I say, putting on a sickly sweet smile to match the tone I use. I roll my eyes at her and go over to my bed and hop on as I wait.

"This! This is perfect! You must wear it. Please say you'll wear it? Please? Just to make this one mentor happy, just this once please!" She pleads over and over and I think I might squeeze my head so hard from trying to drown out the noise that it will pop.

"Fine!" I yell at her. I look over to actually see what she had picked out and almost hurl. "I'm not wearing a skirt." I state.

"Dress it is!" She squeals like a school girl.

"No!"

"But..bu…" She trails off at the sight of my killer glare. She tumbles through the drawer some more then finally finds something suitable. "How about this?" She asks as she holds up a dark blue dress that fades into burgundy.. of freaking course! It is tight at the top and around the waist then slightly goes out, but not like puffy just a little. Like the ones you could twirl in and it would flow but not be a bubble, it was about a inch above my knee, or it would be if I put it on.

"I said no dresses." I state bored to her, picking at my finger nails.

"You're meeting your prep team tonight! You have to look amazing!" She says and throws skin colored tights at me. "Wear these too" She says getting up, her huge golden fade into blue dress following after her as she trots happily out of the room.

After a few minutes of trying to get everything on, a avox zips me up and I'm out of my bedroom, blue flat footprints fading behind me because of the flats Orchid threw at me at the last minute.

As I walked down the hall towards the dining room I pulled my hair into a messy bun a top my head. I could see Brutus, Enobaria, and a few people I didn't recognize, but the other side of the table was hidden by the wall.

Enobaria turned her head to look down the hall but when she saw me her smile faded into awe, making me stop in my tracks with confusion. Her awe stricken expression changed into a something like a knowing smile or smirk, as if remembering something that long ago happened and then reliving the memory now to watch someone else. The people who I didn't know looked over also and gasp. I turned my head to the left a little with 'What's wrong and should I run?' look on my face. Orchid was beaming at the end of the table.

"Clove! Come on, don't be shy!" You could see her practically get out of her seat in anticipation. I rolled my eyes at her and continued walking, a dull look on my face.

Cato was sitting on the other side of the table, along with some more people I didn't know. And lucky me (again) The only open seat was next to him. I noticed as I sat down next to him that everyone was still staring.

"What?!" I snapped at them and everyone but the Victors and my stupid district partner turned away to continue eating. I looked straight at Enobaria, not wanting to see the look on Cato's face right now.

"Nothing you just look… nice." She said smirking, looking me right in the eye. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah that's what happens when you have a crazy escort and a even crazier mentor" Enobaria laughed at my joke, making me smirk.

"Oh good, your still in there." She says continuing to eat her food. By now Brutus has started eating as well but I have a feeling a certain someone hasn't. I look over my left shoulder and sure enough, there sits Cato staring openly at me.

"Could you eat your goddamn food?" I spit at him.

"Manners!" Orchid says from across the table but she doesn't bother to look up, probably hard balancing that huge spray painted gold hair.

"Could you reenter the room?" He asks coolly.

"At least she didn't come in, get applause, and start bowing Cato." Brutus says more under his breath then to Cato. This makes me smirk and turn back to my food.

"Huh, even _your _mentor is on _my _side." I smirk and we spend the rest of dinner in silence.

After I have finally convinced Orchid to let me go back to my room and change back into the sweats and shirt I wore before I make my way back to the living room. I spy a open spot but unluckily so does Cato, who is right by my side at the entrance of the hallway.

We both start pushing our way towards the chair, I manage to shove him back and duck his shove. I practically skip my way towards the separate chair that had been set there, considering I didn't see it earlier.

"Seriously, you two are like siblings." Enobaria scoffs at us as I plop down onto the chair. Just then Cato decides to come right in front of me and sit down on me.

"Ahh!" I shriek in his ear. "You weigh a million pounds!" I try to no avail to get him off. He smirks crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back a bit more.

"No, you're just really small." He smirks loving the torture his putting me threw as I try to shove his fat ass off of me.

"You're a fucking giant!" I retort child like towards him as I use my knees to hold his back up and my hands on the back of his shoulders trying to hold him up.

"Cato, get off her." Brutus growls. "You can't act like children all the time." Cato gets off me as I try to catch my breath. "We're going to watch the reapings so sit back, you'll be here for a while." Brutus continues.

District 1 looks the same every year, pretty girl handsome boy, so A.K.A. nothing new or to useful.

"Hopefully one of them knows what they're doing." I growl as I see the blonde girl flounce on stage.

"It's probably going to be the boy" Cato says, he's decided to seat himself in front of my chair so I sit criss cross, elbows on my knees head in my hands.

"Usually, I know your wrong, but right now I know your right." I say casually, keeping my eyes trained on the T.V.

I look at our reaping.

"District two, usually so strong. I can't wait to see who's coming in this year!" Ceaser Flickerman says.

"Shh, its starting!" Says the other man, putting a finger to his lips to emphasize this. **_(A/N- Anyone remember the name? I forgot so…) _**

I watch them zoom into Orchid. She's wearing what she called a golden fishtail French braid and a golden dress to match. Her make-up overly done but has successfully made her blue eyes pop. "Now, we're different from the rest the districts aren't we?" She asks cheerily. There is a roar from the crowd. "So we'll do the boys first!" She says and scurries away to the right where the boys bowl is held, a blue strip of ribbon tied around it. She dips polished nails into the bowl feeling around for a slip then pulls a hand out with a folded slip into it. Slowly, she makes her way towards the microphone.

Of course then I knew Cato would volunteer then, she barely gets to get the full name in when he does volunteer. He looks as fierce as ever as he makes his way onto the stage. She asks for his name and he speaks smugly into the microphone, telling the whole of panem his name is Cato Hansen. I see a couple of girl swoon in the audience and I snort at their stupidity which gets me a look from Enobaria. I brush her off and look back to the screen. There, Orchid is already swirling her hand around the pink ribbon bowl. She makes her way towards the microphone and opens the piece of paper ever so slowly.

"Clove Jackson." She says, at first everyone stays calm, knowing that Bambi, whose real name was Bamboo Van, will volunteer. She doesn't come. Cato's smirk falters for only a second, as does most of the districts but his has something very rare in district two, concern while the others have questioning looks. At first I see myself walk on stage, looking as fierce as ever, but then my eye catches something at the back of the screen, almost not visible.

"There!" I say jumping forward, almost trampling over on Cato, but I catch myself in my seat and watch the corner of the screen intently. There someone is holding Bambi in a head lock. There arm is in her mouth so she can't speak or scream for help… or to volunteer. The person wears dirt rags for clothes and there face is darkened by the hood of their cloak.

Brutus leans forward trying to see what I'm looking at, as does Cato and Enobaria but just as they do that part of the screen is cut off.

"Clove, I don't see anything." Brutus says.

"I think you're going crazy." Cato scoffs, leaning back against my chair. I'm about to kick him in the head when I notice Enobaria didn't say anything. She looks perplexedly at the T.V.

"Was that…?" She trails off looking at me. I nod, a glare burning on my face.

No one looks particularly good for the next few districts. The boy from district 11 is monstrous, bigger then Cato even and is sure to be an ally. That's when district twelve comes up.

"Now you see, this one is interesting.."

"She volunteers!"

"Is that her sister?"

"Yes Ceaser, I think it is." The people on the T.V. talk back and forth as a little girl is reaped. Her hair is blonde, her eyes blue and innocent. But as soon as she is reaped there is a commotion and an older girl, she looks about my age, maybe Cato's, comes up and volunteers.

"What's your name?" There escort asks, obviously pleased with a volunteer.

"Katniss… Katniss Everdeen." The girl, Katniss, says. I'll have to remember that, she looks thin and weak like most of district twelve but I don't think I should underestimate her… not yet. The boy that is reaped is blonde, short, but very strong. By the look they give each other I would say they know each other in some way. Cato, being the arrogant ass he is, decides that there weak and should be over looked. Killed in the bloodbath he says, I'm not so sure.

"And who says you get to decide?" I snap at him.

"I do, I'm going to be the obvious leader." He smirks up at me from his place on the floor. I roll my eyes.

"What makes you think that? You shouldn't underestimate me Cato, I thought you'd know that by now."

"I say that." He says, turning so he's facing me. "Because I'm strong, handsome, smart, know how to fight, better than everyone else, can kill everyone in there…" He continues on with his arrogant list of reasons until I throw a vase at him, then he shuts up.

The hosts of the show are closing it up now and saying how excited they are to see how this game goes.

"Well, off to bed!" Orchid chirped. "You two have a busy schedule tomorrow! Tribute parade!" She sighed as if she were the one doing it. "Well, night!" She said.

I jump out of my chair, not bothering with Cato tonight. I make my way to my bedroom. I hesitate slightly, looking at my door once more before making my way into the bedroom.

I lay in my bed, trying to sleep, watching my blue footprints fade away into the darkness of the room.

**_End of chapter four! Yay! Can't believe its only four chapters…_**


	5. Parade

**_Chapter five!_**

It's the day I dreaded ever since I started the academy at the age of six. Tribute parade day. The day they present us to all of the capitol after ripping off all unwanted hair, removing scars, and fixing blemishes all day.

"Up, up, UUUPPPP!" Orchid shrieks and even though she's on the other side of the door I still throw a pillow of my ears at how loud and annoying she is.

I drag myself out of bed and manage to take a shower, not like it really matters, they'll probably make me take another shower. I find they have left me a plain burgundy shirt and black jeans, not the usual capitol choice but I can't say I'm not happy about it. I put my hair in a lazy bun and head out of my door after getting dressed.

"Ahhh!"

" Is that her?"

"She needs to be fixed!"

I hear the three women talk back and forth to each other. They soon take me in their grip and lead me to the remake center.

If you haven't guess by the name, the remake center is where they make tributes go through 12 hours of pure torture or until there clean of debris, scars, or any other undesirable things. _Then _these people have the audacity to stuff you into a costume and put you on a horse drawn carriage. Terrible right?

I clench my fist as they rip the last piece of hair from my legs.

"Or you're all done!" One of them squeals, I think she said her name was Penelope but I am not quite sure because the already heavy weight women was stuffing her face as she told it to me. "You weren't half as bad as our past tributes!" The other two I know are Autumn and April. I am sure they are twins, they kind of creep the shit out of me.

Finally, I am left alone. Only in a robe I sit on a cold counter and wait for my stylist, Ebony I think is what they said his name was. Weird name for a guy but…

"Ahh Clove!" I slightly jump at the sudden sound of a unknown voice. "I'm Ebony, Ny **_(Sounds like knee) _**for short." He says. "I am your stylist, if it wasn't obvious."

When I turn to look at him I am even more startled then before, he is strangely human-like. He could probably walk around district two and no one would notice, well if he took of the eye make-up and clothing that is.

"Now, hair down robe off." He says, waiting patiently. I pull my hair out of the bun that my stylists put up and took off my robe standing up. I felt uncomfortable as he circled around me, judging me. "Perfect, it will fit perfectly." He half smiles at me. "You can put your robe back on." He says and I give him a slight nod in somewhat of a thanks. "I'll be right back" He says leaving the room a moment.

I wait for him impatiently; I just want to get his over with.

He comes back in with clothes in his hands. "Alright, time to dress." He says. He twirls the sides of my hair and pins it back on each side then leaves the rest down to fall down my sides.

He puts the dress on my and zips it up on the back. At the top it is fitted with a slight sweat heart line and black with light silver sparkles but it fades into a white as it leads down my waist. In the front it is about a inch above my knee in flowy fabric but behind the fabric flows like wind behind me, I don't even have to be walking. I see now that my stylists have down a light black smoky eye on me and a top my head Ny places something like a crown. White feathers starting it but when you make your way up they become black as coal, it's not a huge head peace, so it doesn't make me look like a fucking bird and I thank him for that.

"So, do you like it." He asks. I stand there, not being able to get words to form on my mouth.

"Speechless." I say finally.

"Good, then I'm finished." He smiles and leaves the room, I follow after him.

I wait by my chariot for this thing to start. Cato is taking forever in his remake center. Just as I'm about to give up on waiting he comes out. He is wearing a similar outfit. Black suit, white faded sleeves and pant legs nothing nearly as fancy as I have to wear, I slightly growl at this.

"Hey Clovey." He smirks walking over. I roll my eyes at him and cross my arms.

"What took you so long, you look the same." I growled.

"So I'm my usual handsome self." He smirks.

"Nope, still a revolting idiot." I reply slyly.

"On, on!" Orchid says to us, making shooing motions with her hands. I notice the back of Cato's tux is also black and white feathers while he gets on. I just balance myself when Ny comes running over.

"Press this half way through." He says, I don't get a chance to ask him what it will do before our horses have moved on and start racing down the aisle. Our names are chanter, almost never drowned out until I here District 12! Katniss and Peeta. I look at the screen to see that both tributes appear to be on fire, I wish they would burn to death but sadly they don't.

With this distraction I almost forget to press the button. My thumb traces around the button for a second before I gently push down on it, keeping my hand hidden from view. Almost immediately my dress starts blowing and twirls around me, for a second I think I broke it but then I realize this is supposed to happen. The longer part of the dress has fallen off and vanished leaving me in a short black and white silky flowing dress. The audience has been stricken silent.

I look up at the screen to see the spot light is now on Cato and I, his tuxedo has seemed to change also. I watch as a wind blows past all of the tributes behind us and completely blows out Katniss and Peeta's fire. The audience bursts out in applause and cheers, I didn't know it was possible to be so loud.

The rest of the night is filled with Cato and Clove. Even President Snow has some trouble controlling the audience's attention.

**_The end, Clove is a bit occ in this but next chapter will be better because it's…. training! Yay!_**


	6. Training & Lunch

**_Chapter Six! This chapter is dedicated to ClovelyLittleReader…_**

Training, that is all I can think about right now. I crave the feel of the handle at in the palm of my hand and the sounds of blades cutting apart dummies. I can almost taste the metallic tang that comes to my tongue as another blade hits its target.

The smirk on my face might just be too happy right now, but I don't care. All through breakfast Enobaria and Brutus tell us about their training centers and what we should get to know and to keep in mind allies.

My foot is tapping with restlessness as the elevator seems to take unusually long to get to the training center. We're one of the first districts there; apart from district one and what looks like district seven.

Cato and I lounge around, standing next to each other but not really interacting as if we didn't know each other. I really don't mind this though because Cato has a tendency to like to get on my nerves so I'm fine with imagining there is a blade in my hand and a target in front of me.

I scan the training center. Different stations have been set up. They are split into different categories; weaponry, survival skills, and basic skills. Weaponry, if it wasn't obvious, has all the sword, spears, and knife station while survival skills has quizzes and tests to see how much we really know about wildlife and what could kill us or not. Basic skills have things like knot tying and swimming, basic skills that every tribute should know before going into an arena.

I am tapped on the shoulder and I immediately spin around to see the boy from district one looking down at me. Damn all these tall people. I raise my eyebrows at him willing for him to speak, if you don't speak to me I won't speak to you.

"I'm Marvel, district one." He smiles charmingly at me and holding out a hand to shake. I roll my eyes.

"I know" I say spinning back around to look at the training center.

"Well… care to introduce yourself?" He asks.

"You should know your allies." I state not caring to look at him as he comes to stand beside me.

"Oh I do, I just thought…" He trails off and I look at him.

"So.. Marvel. What are you good at?" I ask him, facing towards him with my arms crossed and eyebrow raised.

"Well, I'm probably the best spear thrower you'll ever know." He smirks at me.

"Really?" I raise an eyebrow and cock my head to the side. He nods. "Well, is that it?" I ask smirking back at him, this may be called a crazy career flirting. C.C.F. for short.

"Oh, no. I also specialize in a few more things to" He says, daring to take a step forwards.

"That's nice." I say leaning forwards, but then I step back. "But I like to know everything." I smirk as he glares at me, not doing well to hide the smile tugging at his lips.

"Everyone, please come."

"Allies?" He asks quickly and I nod in a short response and start to walk over to wear a lady is on a platform calling us over.

She pretty much gives us the same speech our mentors gave us. I take this time to smirk at everyone in the room, making sure I intimidate. Only one person holds that stare for more than a second and is Katniss.

Bitch on Fire is our new nickname for her, our actually just being Cato's.

The women steps off the pedestal and I take that as my cue to go to the weaponry area. I pass by the spears, swords, bows, and arrows; these are the most commonly used weapons. Bow and arrow I have mostly mastered but I still don't like them like my knives. Swords are heavy and weigh me down; I can throw a spear far. Nothing gives me the adrenaline like a knife though.

My finger tips brush across the blades when someone's hand clenches around shoulder. Instinctively I pick up a knife and spin around to face my attacker, half expecting it to be Cato.

The first thing I register is Cato in the background, his eyes gleaming at the site of the sword in his hands as Glimmer falls over him, but he barely notices her to entranced by the gleam of the metal. Second thing she registers is Marvel, whose hand was on her shoulder, he tore it away as soon as she picked up that knife.

"Need help with that girly? You know what they say… learn from a expert." Marvel smirks like the strangely comedic pervert he is.

I tilt my head slightly, smirking. "Really?" I ask, pretending to be astonished that he is a 'knife expert.' My finger lightly grazes the edge of the blade and in a flash of a moment I throw it behind my back aiming for the middle dummy. I had already remembered the range. "I think I'm good." My smirk grows wider as he looks partially shocked partially terrified.

I walk away from the gaping boy from district one and retrieve my knife from the dummy, it landed exactly on target. I couldn't throw behind my back too far and still have great accuracy so I decided on only the ten meter one, just to make sure I hit make target and prove my point.

I put the knife back down with its brothers and sisters and look at the array of assorted knives and daggers in front of me. The smile tugging at the end of my lips is almost unbearable but I force it into a crazed kind of smirk. I pick up different knives at a time, feeling the handle in my hand and weighing them.

I take three in each hand and begin my training.

Training was amazing. I had spent most of my time on knives but went over to a few other weaponry skills and even some stations in the survival skill category. On all of the tests I had received a 90% or higher, Cato liked to tease me about this saying I shouldn't waste good time on stupid things like that but I knew once he was in the arena and if something happened that he wouldn't know shit and would need to ask for me for help, which he hates which I love.

Now though was lunch, and I was forced to listen to a assortment of giggles, squeals, and what were supposed to be whispers.

Honestly, I couldn't give a fuck who Cato flirted with or not. He often flirted with the girls at the academy, even after the episode at the hollow, it changed nothing. I never care, but the girls in district two never squealed so high are laugh so obnoxiously.

I picked at my food, looking at my plate in disgust. All I wanted was to go back to training. I could feel a pair of hazel eyes on me but I refused to look up.

Finally, I gave in and looked up. It was intended just to be a glance but the sight of Marvel and his smug expression made me sick, and I just needed to slap- or carve- it off his face.

"What?" I spat at him lowly, holding my icy glare with the smug smirk on his face.

"You and Cato? Really?" He asked, more of stated, quietly. I slightly choked on the piece of food I was eating, many emotions came to mind at the thought, I didn't know whether to laugh at him or pour my soup on him and punch him squarely in the jaw for just _whispering _that.

"God, you're disgusting." I reply to him, starting to eat again so my mouth is full and he gets I'm not in the mood for a conversation.

"Guess not" He says, sighing. I raise an eyebrow but he pretends not to notice.

The rest of the day goes on with training like the morning, just this time I am more aware of my district partners intentions with the little blonde bimbo.

Why do I suddenly have a burning hatred for her? Only time will tell…


	7. Nightmares

**_Chapter Seven. _**

"Ahh!" I hear my own hoarse scream escape my lips. I am sat up on my bed, my hands holding my weight, the covers and blankets are entangled in my legs and my hair is falling out of my bun. I gently touch one hand to my cheek to feel the salty tears are still slipping from my eyes.

I thought they were gone, over with two years ago.

Nightmares. I haven't had them in two years. They usually consist of my mom's death or my dad beating me. I remember the cold nights where I woke up sobbing and screaming and one boy that lived next door would climb through the window and hold me in his arms till I fell asleep again.

Back then that little boy and I had been closer, he helped me deal with my mom's death, my dad's beatings, and the nightmares that came with them but that boy has faded. He has become the piece in the capitols games that I refuse to be.

I didn't need to the hunger games to bring torture in my life; the capitol already gave me that.

I don't expect anybody to come to visit me, in a private meeting I had with Enobaria earlier after dinner she said that I had screamed and thrashed around in my sleep previous nights. At first the two mentors came to wake me but soon found I would need to be sedated to stop my screams of protest.

I hear the door crack open and see something in the blackness move, my eyes search for the glint of a needle that will come and sedate me back to sleep and I won't remember anything the next morning but I don't see it.

That is what alarms me.

Slowly I start moving back on my bed, moving everything in my way until I hit the cold surface of my wall. They wouldn't kill me now would they? They couldn't everyone has already seen the reapings they couldn't do it, not without rising suspicion. I haven't done anything wrong… Okay maybe a little but nothing big enough to kill me.

The blackness has stopped moving.

"Clove?" The soft voice comes from the shadows, I almost don't even recognize it as I haven't heard it in years.

"C-Cato." I say trying to sound as I usually do but I know he notices the slight tremble and hesitation in my voice, I hate how weak I sound. I can't be weak, especially in front of my top competitor, not now.

He doesn't say a word, just starts walking again and I see the blue footprints light up dimly behind him as if he is a ghost, it feels like he is. A ghost of the past.

I feel myself slightly falling over to the right as he climbs on my bed. I can barely see his face so I can't tell if he thinks of me as a coward or just a broken little girl but frankly I don't want to, it would bring to much shame to me. His hand gently unclenches my fist that I didn't notice were holding so tightly to the sheets of the capitol bed. He slowly brings me back into his arms, cradling me and playing with my hair like he used to.

At first I am hesitant but as he holds me closer I finally rest my head on his chest and watch as he plays with the ends of my hair like he used to when we were merely children.

Years of training finally caught up to us though and we drifted away from each other slowly. Sure we were granted as training partners but it wasn't like it used to be. If I awoke screaming and pleading for them not to kill another person I loved I wouldn't feel the warmth of his arms or the comfort of seeing him playing with my hair in a way almost soothingly.

Things felt so right but I knew, on the logical side of my brain, that they were wrong. This is not how we were supposed to act with our district partners when we knew one of us will be dead in less than three weeks. My head wasn't supposed to fit perfectly in the crevasse of his neck, but it did, and for now I was just going to enjoy the old Cato.

No words need to be said, now I know there is still the Cato I used to know in him, still some part of humanity left… and that is all I need.

**_VERY short chapter but gives you some background and is a Clato moment. 3_**


	8. Secret, only we know

**_Chapter Eight(?) Changing Clove's stylist's name to Pollet (Pooh-let). _**

I wake up with only the blankets of the capitol surrounding me.

It never happened.

I silent agreement between district partners, a secret only we know.

It was like it never happened; any sign of him ever being here is gone, well, with the exception of the warmth from the side of the bed he was on. That must've meant he only recently went to his own bedroom.

I shake the, now, memory from my mind and get out of my bed. I'm still tired and without the tranquilizers I remember everything of last night, including the nightmares.

I walk over to the bathroom and take a shower. It takes longer than usual as and I end up burning and freezing my skin repeatedly and just decide to get out.

The fact of getting to train today does not excite me quiet as much as yesterday but I am still excited to test my skills and see who my biggest competition is going to be. Today I have decided I'm going to evaluate the others, see their strengths and weaknesses so I can use it against them.

I get dressed into the training outfit that I am guessing a avox has set out for me. I tie my hair back and walk out of the bedroom, footprints vanishing as my weight is lifted from the fancy carpet.

I dodge the big blonde boulder but just barely as he comes down the hall. I give him a huff as a warning, I'm not to be messed with this morning.

Sure the nightmares scared and scarred me in the night, but in the day it just made the wind flow faster. Giving you burns from whiplash on your face but it only makes you stronger.

My menacing scowl continues as I make my way to the dining hall. I find myself grinding my teeth in anticipation of the day, not wanting to wait to get it started.

This time, sitting at fancy capitol table, is only Brutus, Enobaria, and Orchid. I make my way to the table and sit across from my mentor. Cato does the same; I almost forgot that he was there… _almost. _

I look at the table and all of its contents. Many things are on the table but only few do I recognize. The main things I do recognize are; eggs (both scrambled and fried), bacon, sausage, pancakes, and waffles. I take some of the things I recognize and start to eat, as does the rest of the table.

Orchid tries to stir up conversation but no one really talks, except for Brutus who is obviously just humoring her. The meal is mostly silent and it puts me on edge, I don't know why it just does.

Finally we are sent off to training.

I can feel my career senses coming back. Every little weakness in district three boy just seems to pop out; weak, can't throw anything, doesn't stand tall or at all like a leader. I can't help it, I'm trained this way.

I cross my arms and wait impatiently, tapping my foot with a annoyed face, as the elevator goes up to four then down to one. God these people anoy the crap out of me, and they haven't even done anything yet. Or maybe it's just Shimmer's goddy apple scented perfume that she has _definitely _overdosed on.

I'm the first to step out of the elevator that morning.

No one is here but eleven but I assume we get to train right away this time, don't have to listen to directions over again, it would be such a waste of time.

I stand in the center of the training acade- no not academy I mean room and look around. Thresh stands at the trapping station watching intently as the trainer sets a basic trap. Despite the fact that he is only at the Basic Skills center, I think he would be a good ally. I mentally take a note to tell the rest of the careers later. Out of the corner of my eye I can see little Rue scaling the ropes like they are nothing, that's a skill. Sure I can climb a tree but probably not silently or as quick as she.

Now the room is filling with the others and I decide I better get to doing something before they think I've gone crazy. So, of course, I go towards the knives station. My favorite station.

On my way towards the Weaponry station I can't help but notice as Katpiss keeps sneaking peeks at the bow and arrows. I decide to shake it off though something in the back of my mind tells me not to.

Per usual, I throw every knife, and hit every target dead center. You may think it gets boring after awhile but I could do this all day.

Time for lunch again and we all shuffle our way to what I guess you could call a cafeteria. I go reluctantly because I want to keep on throwing but I eventually go.

I watch as Cato and Marvel push a few tables together so that the whole alliance can sit together, meaning district one, two, and four.

I roll my eyes as now Cato is just showing off his strength by lifting the chairs over the table and putting them on the other side, just so Glitter can flutter her eyes and squeal. It makes me sick. Had he not learned not to love? It probably isn't real, but still, resulting to something so pathetic is quite, well, pathetic and definitely not something you see from district two every day.

I grab my food with the rest then sit between Marvel and Coral, district one boy and district four girl. I note that the district four boy is indeed here but can't help to mentally shake my head, he won't make it past the bloodbath. Not if Cato is there, he has no mercy for someone so weak on the alliance. I could kill him to, but why bother when there are more important targets to counter.

"Coral" The girls from four says, sticking out a hand.

"Clove." I spit at her, not really bothering to make a attempt at conversation.

"I know you probably aren't really a talker, Clove, but I think we could both use someone to talk to." She says, her hand retreating to her lap as she talks. My brow furrows in confusion and anger at her statement and my jaw clenches but I guess this just proves her point even more.

"I don't need anyone, I've always been alone." I retort and that is the end of discussion with me and the girl from four for now."

"Hey, someone has a tude." Marvel teases with a broad smirk on his lips. I roll my eyes at this statement as well, such foolishness in district one. He leans in closer and I freeze for a second as I feel his hot breath on my ear. He is to close for comfort. "I know you want me." He whispers, and just by his tone I know he is only playing with me, trying to get a laugh out of me. Well, it worked. Our vicious laughter rings through the dining hall.

Coral throws a smirk my way and a rising of her eyebrows but otherwise doesn't acknowledge us, her partner only looking up for an instant with a startled expression then looking back down and eating again. Though, our own partners throw a startling skeptical look our way.

I can see Cato's jaw clench tighter as he finally took the time to notice who I am sitting by and who could actually get a rise out of me. I can't seem to throw the smirk off my face as Shimmer only looks at us for mere seconds then cautiously proceeding with her discussion with Cato.

I get to eat the rest of my meal with a smirk as Marvel, Coral, and I make small talk and joke around with one another.

**_So, this is the last chapter till NEXT WEEK. I am sorry but I don't think I will have time to write or post till then. Tell me what you guys think and what you like/dislike. Thank you for reading!_**


	9. Nights begining

**_It's been awhile. I am sooooo extremely sorry I haven't updated sooner. Hopefully this will make up for it. NOTE: I might remake this chapter as I was finishing it when I was tired so it is a bit fluffy for my taste but you guys might like it. _**

Another knife leaves the tips of my fingers, leaving a rush there that runs through my body. After we finished lunch we had training again so, of course, being me I went to my knives. I wasn't really trying to impress, that came naturally, I was looking at my competitors reactions and observing there behavior.

Thresh was defiantly a threat. He was massive and strong though most of the time he staying in the survival skills category of the room. The next person was Katpiss, she didn't really do anything threatening except glance frequently at the bow and arrow station but that was enough to turn on the warning bells. No one else really stood out to me, Marvel and Glimmer I could kill with a flick of the wrist. Glimmer was strong but had poor training and I could easily over-power her. Marvel would be a bit trickier but I figured if I pin him like I do Cato it shouldn't be too difficult.

I tear myself away from the knives table and walk past Cato who is on his way to knives. I roll my eyes at him as he smirks and our shoulders collide. I keep walking though and decide to head over to the spear station. There is a line so I decide to take this time to assess the others.

My eyes flick past the weakling, lingering temporarily on the cripple from ten but flicking past him to the girl in the nets above. She is from eleven; about 12 years old and dark skinned and an innocent face. It is always sad when someone so young is picked but I do not show any emotion, she will die quickly and hopefully not too painfully.

My eyes only catch the knife in her hand from the reflection of the light off it and that's when I hear the rumble of Cato's voice tear through the training centre.

"Where's my knife!" He yells at the boy, I can't place where he is from, just another weakling.

"I don't have your knife!" He retorts stubbornly, the kid has guts but really shouldn't have been so arrogant as to do that. Cato will make him his first target immediately.

"You'll be the first to die!" I was right as Cato starts gaining on the boy the peacekeepers finally show themselves and break off the fight. I have to hide the smirk-ish smile on my lips at the girl from elevens little bit of fun. I don't look at her though or someone will catch on and Cato will be merciless for making him look like a fool.

I look over towards the girl and boy from district twelve. He paints so skillfully as he lifts his arms to one of the fake trees and his upper arm and hand are almost invisible, I make a mental note of this as it could be potentially threatening. The girl from twelve looks somewhat impressed with his art work but I don't bother to look at them anymore and continue my evaluation of the other tributes, both weaknesses and strengths, till it is time to go back to our living quarters.

The bubbly laughter flows out of the elevator as Cato and I leave and all I want to do is flick my wrist in the direction of her face. She let Marvel get off on floor one but came up with Cato and I.

Enobaria and Brutus wait at the table for us and I inwardly groan. I don't really feel like talking but I know it has to be important; Enobaria doesn't waste her time on anybody. By the way she ignores Orchid anyone could tell that.

I stop at the entrance and look my mentor straight in the eye; she does the same to me. She could possibly be the hardest person to read. That is if I wasn't alive. Her expression stays black but at at the same time rock hard as I sit across from her.

"You guys smell like shit" She grins. This makes the corner of my mouth slightly tilt up along with everyone else's at the table. It may not seem like it but this is what we call a reward from Enobaria. She leans back in her chair, lazily playing with a fork and she continues. "Tomorrow are interviews. Brutus and I will be helping you find you angles for the first four hours then we'll have lunch. After lunch your prep teams are going to take you and beatify you both. The interviews will be later that night. The next day is what really matters though. You'll be tested in your skills in your private training sessions, do good or we're disowning you. Anything below a 9 will not be accepted, you are careers and have been training for a lifetime so tens or nothing."

"Enobaria and I need something to work with if you want sponsors. Cato," Brutus turns towards the blonde sitting beside me. "You and the girl from district one are having a star-crossed lovers act. Nothing big just some mild flirting and such will probably do it. The sponsors will be falling all over you two."

Both Enobaria and I laugh at this. He can't be serious can he? Love in the hunger games. I think not. Brutus glares at us but Cato just keeps looking on like he could care less.

"Really? That is what you and Cashmere were talking about?" My mentor can barely catch her breath as she says this before continuing on with her cruel laughter.

I smirk, folding my arms across my chest and lean back in my chair and look at Cato.

He looks at me and his face has formed a cold glare which just makes me smirk even more.

"Is that all?" Cato asks, not taking his eyes off me with a clenched jaw.

"Be back here in twenty minutes if you want to eat." Brutus says before getting up and leaving. Enobaria must have already left because she is nowhere to be seen.

"You have fun with that." I smirk cruelly in his direction as I push my chair away from the table and start walking towards my room. I hear his heavy footsteps behind me, god this kid is annoying. When I turn back to look at him he just stops in his tracks but doesn't say a word so I continue on until I get to my room.

I look at the door again, the four leaf clover haunting me with just it's existence. I open the door and walk into my bedroom, footprints glowing with every step. I make my way to my bed and sit down and it swings gently. I only realize Cato is in the doorway when he huffs.

My head instinctively snaps up and I reach for a knife by my side that's not there. He comes in and closes the door behind him watching his footsteps behind him.

"Why is your bedroom like this?" He asks seriously. It's weird to see the real Cato, for the past year I have become accustomed to the arrogant basket case he had become. I shrug, my eyes finding interest in floor.

I take my training boos off and jump off my bed.

"Would you mind?" I snap at Cato as I make my way towards my dresser.

"Yeah, I'd prefer you change out here instead of the bathroom." He smirks as he makes himself comfortable on my bed. I growl and roll my eyes as I pick a pair of simple jeans and a white blouse.

"Don't mess anything up." I warn as I head into the bathroom.

Mid-way through dressing I hear a thump and curse myself for trusting him alone in this temporary bedroom. I zip up my jeans and pull the blouse over a simple white tank top and walk out of the bedroom to find Cato with a guilty look on his face as he tries to pick something up while staying on the bed.

"You lazy ass!" I yell at him and make my way over to him. I see the smallest shimmer from the reflection of the light on the etched gold of my token before Cato swoops it up with one hand and sits back up on my bed. "Cato give it back!" I growl lowly.

"Wait! I want to see it." He states holding it above his head so I can't reach it if I tried. I decide not to look like a fool trying to get it so I put a hand on my hip and wait impatiently, tapping my foot. "Oooh, sassy!" He teases. I roll my eyes at his immaturity and he rolls them in response before studying my token.

His hands trace the key locket carefully, almost delicately. Sure it is a bit rusty, but it's not _that _old. It's golden and not to large, but not teeny either. Inside is a hidden knife. Before my mother died she gave it to me, so seeing Cato hold it infuriates me. No one is supposed to touch it but that bastard is as tall as a fucking giraffe so it's not like I had a choice.

I begin to grow impatient; it's been at least two minutes already. "Cato.." I growl and he looks up for the first time as if just remembering my presence.

"Where'd you get this?" He asked, eyes boring into me.

"None of your business" I seethe, snatching the golden chain with my token on it out of his hands. He raises his eyebrow's but doesn't say anything else.

"So" He says plopping down on the bed, making it slightly sway.

"So what?" I spit returning the locket around my neck, where it is supposed to be hidden.

"We are supposed to make the career pack official tonight." He says. I throw myself onto the bed, face first with my head landing on a pillow.

"Whhhyyy?!" My cries are muffled by the pillow. I can practically see that sideways grin of his, something special that is very rare and unknown too other. I can feel him shifting on the bed and I look over with my head still on the pillow. He is on his side laying beside me and as I predicted with the sideways smile. "What?" I growl.

He shakes his head. "Nothing. You haven't acted like this in a while." I bury my head back into the pillow and hide my face in it. No, not hide. I don't know, I just don't feel like looking at that asshole.

He suddenly sits up. "Hey, remember when we were kids and played by the fence?" He asks slightly shaking my shoulder. I nod looking up at him.

"What about it?" I ask, my curiosity sparked.

"You would make me follow the pattern where your feet were and every time I crunched a branch or stepped in the wrong place you would throw a knife in my direction and scold me." He smiles dumbly at the memory.

"How is that a good memory?" I ask him. He shrugs.

"I bet you would still do that…"

"Do what?"

"Scold me and throw knifes at me till I got it right." I'm appalled at this.

"Would not!" I say, launching up from my previous spot.

"Would to." He smirks.

We both know what the other is thinking.

I meet Cato and on the larger part of the room.

"Go" I say and soon I am bounding around the room. Being skillful as well as graceful as I hop place to place. Cato follows suit jumping around like the crazy cluts he is.

I laugh at him.

"Your terrible!" I say as I continue hopping around.

"You're still a bitch!" He says as he chases me around the room. I laugh at him and continue on quickly, avoiding every attack.

I know we shouldn't be doing this- this.. having fun together. We should be completely focused on murding one another but it feels right. So I just pretend, pretend one of us- unlikely both of us- will be dead in a matter of 3 weeks.

**_~Da end. Sorry I haven't updated in two weeks. My bad. Thank you for reading, review and fav!~_**


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